But the bottom line appears to be the same. In the end, neither could help the Chargers. Both will end their careers here sooner than should have happened, walking away with millions of the team’s dollars and highlighting (in neon) the bind in which the Chargers have been left by the failed free agency foray of 2012.

Where Gaither took his money and shut down, Meachem is the real face of that ill-fated attempt to fortify a faulty roster with a massive (desperate) expenditure last spring by former General Manager A.J. Smith.

Meachem wants to be good. He simply isn’t. He wants to contribute. He just can’t.

It’s so bad that paying him $5 million to not play while also paying someone else would be less of a waste than paying Meachem $5 million and having him take up a roster spot — even with the remaining top four receivers all having an injury history.

Do you see how drastic this is?

We’re not just talking about a salary cap hit here, though that is sizable. We’re talking real money possibly being paid to a player who will be at home.

That’s the situation after the Chargers guaranteed Meachem $14 million last March, which includes a guaranteed base salary of $5 million this season.

Given the thin market for receivers that year and the fact that the Chargers simultaneously landed Eddie Royal and paid far less for two receivers than the Washington Redskins did for Pierre Garçon, the Chargers’ thinking was at least understandable.

Had Meachem produced even at the level he did for the New Orleans Saints from 2009 to ’12 — averaging 43 receptions, more than 650 yards and almost seven touchdowns — his contract could be justified.

But Meachem was far below that standard last year. His 14 receptions were just two more than the career low of his rookie season, and his 207 yards were the fewest of his career.

Meachem was targeted just 32 times all season (just three times after dropping a certain touchdown pass in the open field on Oct. 28), and his 43.8 reception percentage was fifth-lowest in the NFL among players who had the ball thrown in their direction more than 30 times.

“I did suck,” Meachem said, not for the first time, on Saturday.

Earlier in camp, he had said this: “This year I just want to be on the same page as Philip (Rivers), be able to run good routes, be smooth in my routes, and just get back to having fun.”

Such a thought was previously digestible, in part because you figured there was no way Meachem wouldn’t be at least a little better in 2013 than he was in ’12.

And before Thursday night, it seemed likely that the Chargers would be compelled to stick with Meachem — if only because of the financial constraint presented by the base guarantee and $6.875 million cap hit they’re stuck with regardless of whether he plays.

But in the Chargers’ preseason opener, Meachem looked as bad as he did last season. Maybe worse.

Yes, it was one exhibition game, but Meachem acknowledged that it was more than just that for a guy coming off such a horrendous season.

“I was disappointed with myself,” he said. “I don’t have room to get caught.”

He was responding to the observation that he got caught giving up on a play — not coming back to the ball on what would end up being Charlie Whitehurst’s first interception. (Meachem was so bad that, when I also take into account how poorly the bulk of the second-team offense played, I owe Whitehurst an apology for even remotely suggesting that he didn’t play well on Thursday.)

“I got lazy at the top,” said Meachem, who earlier in the game had run the wrong route on a Whitehurst incompletion.

Quite plainly, Meachem looked as if his confidence is still fractured and his game is still missing. He looked lost in Norv Turner’s offense, and he looks lost in Ken Whisenhunt’s offense.

Meachem says his health is “blessed,” and he did miss just one game last year and has been a part of every practice this camp.

However, one person familiar with the situation said emphatically that Meachem is “broken down,” that his body simply isn’t what it was.

Meachem was a receiver who did one thing well. He ran fast. That was enough — for a time and as a part of a certain offense in which he could just be another guy.

Now, he’s a receiver who can’t separate, runs poor routes and has undependable hands, and he has no business being on the field.